A DOCTOR'S VISIT

A Doctor's Visit

A doctor is called to attend to a factory owner's daughter. The daughter has been spoiled by her mother but she is not feeling well. The doctor examines her and finds nothing wrong with her physically. The problem is in her mind, in her soul.

The doctor believes what is making Liza sick is her surroundings. All those factory buildings. All those workers toiling day and night in an unhealthy environment. All for what? So the profit can be gained by the factory owner and spent on French wine and expensive food that only the governess enjoys? It is a credit to Liza that she can't sleep and is unwell. There is a problem in the factory system and she is responding to it with all her being. The only way the doctor thinks she will be whole is to leave, to escape.

When he departs in the morning Liza sends him off, she will not likely be able to go away from the devilish factory world -- she is trapped -- and the doctor is glad to be going home -- the sun is out and he is in a carriage with three horses.

The story is dated from 1898. Chekhov dies in 1904. The Russian Revolution takes place in 1917.